Maple Cinnamon Blondies

If you ask most people what the pride of New England is, they’d probably say The Red Sox or The Patriots. A foodie, on the other hand, knows that the best part about New England is our maple syrup(with Ben & Jerry filling the 2nd and 3rd spot). There’s nothing like warm french toast with pure maple syrup and some hazelnut coffee on a Fall day in New England. But this isn’t a french toast recipe. It’s better: Dessert. Nicole posted these maple snickerdoodle cookies and instantly my mind was filled with a cinnamon sugar dessert. Instead of cookies, I made blondies since they’re a little less tempermental(and so much denser). This recipe is perfect to have after dinner with a little coffee because it’s just the right balance of sweetness and spice. As we say in New England, fuck you Yankees they’re wicked good!

Maple Cinnamon Blondies

Ingredients:

• 6 tablespoon butter(or vegan alternative like Earth Balance)
• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 cup natural almond butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour(or gluten-free alternative like Bob’s Red Mill)
• 1/4 + 1/8 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees and let your butter soften before using. Cream together the butter, sugar, almond butter, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg until it’s all combined.

Next, add the maple syrup, egg, and vanilla extract and stir briefly. Sift in the flour and baking soda and mix until just combined. The batter should be rather thick like a cookie dough.

Grease an 8×8 baking pan and press the dough down in an even layer. Bake for 28-30 minutes until the center is set and the edges turn a crusty golden brown. Let the blondies cool before cutting into squares.

Mine came out a little thin(read: fudgy) since I didn’t use an egg or egg replacer and used gluten-free flour. But the flavor was everything that I wanted and more.

On a related note, I have no idea when this week became all about baked good recipes.  I’ve been eating real food, too(sometimes…), so expect those recipes to come.